Melo is like Kobe in my mind. They are both great scorers and can dominate the perimeter and mid-range. And Kobe had his greatest success paired with a dominant big man, with Shaq and Pau of course. This is really what Melo should be looking for. He is a high usage, volume shooting perimeter player that I think would work best with the same type of player, but one that operates in the post.

IMO, the best thing about Melo is that he can do pretty much anything as far as scoring. If you get a big guy on him, he can take him out to perimeter, he can make 3s, he can take him off the dribble. If you put more of a perimeter defender on him, or a smallish PF, Melo will destroy him on post ups. Melo is an instant mismatch, and his team would have to take advantage of that.

So I'd just prefer to see a balanced team around him. A team that can shoot and give him space in the post, when he has a mismatch down there, but also a team that can penetrate and score inside when he's spacing the floor at the 3pt line.
Also, a lot of defense. He can score for two people, so his team can afford to have a few defense focused players. I liked how the Knicks/Nuggets paired him Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby, too bad those managements failed at most everything else.

In general, I think you can make him work with pretty much any superstar, but role players have to be picked carefully.

I think of the teams with some cap space, the Bulls are kind of built for him. They don't have quite enough cap space though. But if they could pair a healthy Rose-some 3pt shooter-Butler-Melo-Noah, I imagine it would work pretty well.

IMO, the best thing about Melo is that he can do pretty much anything as far as scoring. If you get a big guy on him, he can take him out to perimeter, he can make 3s, he can take him off the dribble. If you put more of a perimeter defender on him, or a smallish PF, Melo will destroy him on post ups. Melo is an instant mismatch, and his team would have to take advantage of that.

So I'd just prefer to see a balanced team around him. A team that can shoot and give him space in the post, when he has a mismatch down there, but also a team that can penetrate and score inside when he's spacing the floor at the 3pt line.
Also, a lot of defense. He can score for two people, so his team can afford to have a few defense focused players. I liked how the Knicks/Nuggets paired him Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby, too bad those managements failed at most everything else.

In general, I think you can make him work with pretty much any superstar, but role players have to be picked carefully.

I think of the teams with some cap space, the Bulls are kind of built for him. They don't have quite enough cap space though. But if they could pair a healthy Rose-some 3pt shooter-Butler-Melo-Noah, I imagine it would work pretty well.

Well that is one of the interesting things with Melo and the Knicks this year...they seem to be more successful with Melo at the 4. Similar to what the Nets are doing with Pierce. However, I think this will be a limitation in the playoffs. Nonetheless, Melo is exactly as how you describe, a mismatch in most situations. He can provide that if he is playing the 4 or the 3.

But, I would still like to see him in the 3 spot, with one offensively gifted big man and the other big man being a defensive specialist. A defensive SG and a PG that can D and shoot a 3. I just think this is more sustainable throughout a season and subsequent playoffs. Maybe have a good scorer come off the bench as well along with other shooters and defenders. I would really like to see this situation happen just to find out how it would work.

The lineup you propose with CHI is intriguing. He may pair nicely with Rose, especially when surrounded with shooting and defending specialists. But again, this is somewhat similar to the idea I proposed, at least in the sense that your two main scorers are occupying different parts of the floor, Rose being the PG and Melo at the 4 should provide ample spacing and stretch 4's are becoming commonplace in the NBA these days. I'd be interested to see how that would go down.

However, I find it difficult to believe that Melo would work well with say, Harden, Kobe, Durant, or, to add some Raps to the equation, Demar. But in any case, I agree that role players would have to be picked very carefully, regardless of who he is paired up with. He is not an easy player to build around. And style of play would be important to consider too of course. The CHI lineup you proposed could really push the ball and look for ways to run, and having Melo at the 4 would be great for that. But having him at the 3 and paired with a scoring big man might be better suited to a slow paced, half-court style.

Melo actually would fit in nicely here. He's shown a capacity to buy into a ball-movement type offense if he has other capable and reliable scorers on his team (see the 2008-09 season). My issue is he's 30 years old and it'd be a HUGE win-now move.

Would much rather get a star that's around the same age as Lowry/DD or even better Ross/JV.

Melo actually would fit in nicely here. He's shown a capacity to buy into a ball-movement type offense if he has other capable and reliable scorers on his team (see the 2008-09 season). My issue is he's 30 years old and it'd be a HUGE win-now move.

Would much rather get a star that's around the same age as Lowry/DD or even better Ross/JV.

Melo doesn't necessarily rely on athleticism. I'd guess he's got at least 3 very strong years left in him.

“But I’m told that Joakim said to Melo, “Look, you can go to Los Angeles. But if you want to win a ring, if you want your legacy to be about winning, come to Chicago.
“Melo, I’m told, said, “Look, I’ve been watching you guys. I admire how hard you play. I admire how hungry you are. Oh, and by the way, my son’s favorite player: Derrick Rose.”

Bosh has migrated to the perimeter to become a true stretch 4. Just six bigs have taken more 3-pointers than Bosh this season and he's making them at a higher clip (36.6 percent) than the Heat's resident 3-point marksmen, Battier (34.5), Ray Allen (35.8) and Rashard Lewis (34.3). With his sharpened long-range game, Bosh's true shooting percentage -- a shooting metric that incorporates 3-pointers and free throws -- has risen to a career-high 60.8 percent.

That's pretty impressive.

All while guarding bulkier centers.

This may be all Andersen (I don't think so) but:

the defensive side of the ball is where the Bosh-Andersen lineups make hay. The Heat hold opponents to just 92.3 points per 100 possessions with that duo on the floor, which is two points stingier than the Indiana Pacers' historically great defense.